


Bookstore Girl

by lavenderfables



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-06
Updated: 2017-03-06
Packaged: 2018-09-28 14:41:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10118600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lavenderfables/pseuds/lavenderfables
Summary: Emma works up the courage to ask out Belle, the cute girl working at one of the campus’s bookstores. Things don’t go exactly according to plan.





	

Emma had spent the last month building up the courage to talk to Belle French, the girl working at the west campus’s bookstore. She’d planned it down to the smallest detail – and of course all those details weren’t working out so well for her.

Firstly, Killian decided to tag along.

Secondly, the campus bookstore was out _Jane Eyre_.

Emma double checked and triple checked. She even went so far as to browse through the Nonfiction section. All ten copies of _Jane Eyre_ she’d spied last week were gone, even the one with the broken spine.

She chewed on her bottom lip, thinking.

She could just buy another book but that would be stupid. Her bank account couldn’t take a hit like that for anything other than the essentials. She needed _Jane Eyre_ for her English Lit class and, considering her roommate Mary Margaret was falling asleep with her own copy in her hands, there was no sense in asking to borrow it.

If only Killian had taken English Lit! He would have lent her his copy for sure.

She supposed she could just ask Belle to order it in for her. That would be an amazing way to start up conversation, which was the whole point was going to this bookstore instead of the one on the other side of campus.

The problem with that was Emma hadn’t planned for such a conversation. All her carefully chosen words would now be useless.

She glanced in the direction of the counter. Her eyes widened in surprise.

Killian was at the counter.

He was at the counter and he was talking to Belle French.

Emma ducked behind the Nonfiction shelf and strained her ears. Unable to help herself, she peeked over the top of the shelf.

They were smiling at each other.

“How’s your day going so far?”

Belle shrugged one shoulder as she scanned his items. “Not too busy.” She paused on the most recent book in her hands and grinned. “ _Persuasion_ , _Treasure Island_ , _Twenty thousand leagues under the sea…_ Someone has a thing for the ocean!”

Killian laughed. “What can I say? I’m a cliché.” He raised his prosthetic hand and scrunched up his face in a comical pirate expression. “Rrrr.”

Belle laughed and Emma went a little weak at the knees.

Killian lowered his hand, his expression softening. “But, seriously, how have you been since-”

“The breakup,” Belle finished, her voice a little higher and thick with forced cheerfulness. “At lot better since the restraining order.”

Killian winced. “That’s intense.”

“Yeah. At least he’s not working here anymore. That was awkward.” She started packing his items into a paper bag and then read off the total price. He paid and gathered his things.

“See you around.”

“See you.”

Killian turned away from Belle, casting his eyes around the store for Emma.

Emma ducked behind the shelf.

Killian knew Belle? He was just a freshman like Emma. He didn’t even take English Lit, which Belle and Emma were majoring in. How did he know Belle?

“Emma?”

Emma jumped and whirled around.

Killian raised an eyebrow. “You okay, Swan?”

“Fine.”

Amusement entered his expression. “Sure. Whatever. Are you going to talk to her or have you chickened out on me?”

Emma blushed. “How did you- I wasn’t-” She shot a careful look Belle’s way to make sure she hadn’t heard.

Killian rolled his eyes. “You’re transparent, Swan. Now, are you going to talk to her or am I going to have to introduce you like a five-year-old at kindergarten?”

Emma glared at him. “I can introduce myself.”

“Good.”

“Good.”

He raised an eyebrow at her again. “So?”

She looked down at her shoes. “I’m getting to it. Give me a minute.”

Killian snorted. “Swan, she’s not going to bite.”

“I know!” she hissed, glaring at him.

“Then talk to her!”

“ _I’m getting to it._ ”

Killian rolled his eyes. “Well, you do that. I’m headed back to the dorms.”

“Fine.”

Killian didn’t leave.

He heaved a frustrated sigh. “Swan, do you want me to introduce you?”

Emma was tempted to say yes but only for a second. Instead, she asked, “How do you two even know each other?”

Killian smirked. “What? You jealous?”

Emma stamped on the toe of his boots. He barely even winced. She glared at him.

Killian laughed. “Okay, okay. I knew her ex. He was a major creep. He actually used to teach at my high school. Let’s just say, he has a thing for students.”

Emma wrinkled her nose. “Ew.”

“Definitely ew.” Killian glanced over at the counter, where Belle was straightening the displays. “So, are you going to talk to her?”

Emma hesitated, both tempted to ask Killian more questions about Belle and back out of this whole thing. It was one thing to ask out a girl without knowing whether she was straight or not. It’s a whole other thing to ask out a girl who’d just gotten out of a relationship with a total creep.

Emma was used to being the only one bringing baggage into a relationship. Growing up in foster care and having a toddler at twenty does that, but this was different. Exes were expected but exes that required restraining orders? Emma liked Belle but could she really risk bringing someone with that kind of baggage into Henry’s life, even though Henry was all the way across the country in Portland with Ingrid, Emma’s adoptive mother?

Emma glanced in Belle’s direction.

She was humming while straightening some flyers. There was a soft smile on her lips.

Henry would love that smile.

Ingrid would too.

Killian sighed. “At least do whatever else you came to do. That’d be a start.”

Emma sighed. “That’s the thing. They’re kind of out of _Jane Eyre_.”

“Then ask them to order it in.”

Emma snorted. “Fantastic idea. If only I’d thought of that myself.”

“Hilarious, Swan.”

“Oh, I try.”

Emma gathered her courage and left the Nonfiction section.

She hesitated briefly at the end of the stack. Killian shoved her forward with his prosthetic hand. She shot a glare back at him as she stumbled forward. He grinned.

Emma walked up to the counter.

“Um, hi. I’m looking to buy _Jane Eyre_?”

Belle frowned as she finished straightening the gum behind the flyers. “Are we out again?”

“Yeah, I think so. Can you order it in for me?”

“Sure! Let me just…” Belle turned to the counter’s computer and began to type. “Are you taking Professor Merlin’s paper?”

“Yeah.”

“He’s an amazing professor. Do you have any tutorials with him?”

“No. I have Guinevere.”

“Oh, she’s lovely.” Belle made a few firm taps on her keyboard then frowned. “Hmm, looks like there’s actually a few copies in stock.”

Panic fluttered in Emma chest. Had she missed them? “I didn’t see any on the shelves.”

“They’re probably out the back. I’ll go have a look.” She grabbed a piece of paper and noted something down in a scrawl of handwriting. She typed a few more things into the computer. “Do you mind watching the counter for me? I’m the only one working at the moment. Can’t exactly leave the register unattended.”

“Sure.”

Belle disappeared through the door behind the counter.

Emma stood guard over the register.

She felt slightly underwhelmed by the encounter. Belle hadn’t even looked at her, her attention on the gum and then the computer the whole time.

Not that Belle would remember their first meeting if she _had_ looked. It probably hadn’t even registered, beyond some blonde knocking over the _Pride and Prejudice_ display.

Emma blushed just remembering.

It had been horrifying.

Mary Margaret had actually abandoned her, too embarrassed to stick around.

Emma remembered apologising and trying to right the display. A pair of hands had joined her efforts and Emma – at that point unaware Mary Margaret had abandoned her – had thought it was her roommate. She’d been relieved.

Then Emma had looked up.

Belle had been beautiful, that first day. Her face had been a little flushed and her eyes a brilliant blue, set off against her blue Peter Pan collared dress.

Emma remembered saying something. She wasn’t exactly sure what.

Belle had smiled…

The door behind the counter opened. “Found them!” Belle was hidden behind two boxes. She set them down and, grabbing a boxcutter from somewhere under the counter, opened the box. She smiled at the box full of _Jane Eyre_. She gently plucked one out and set it on the counter. “There you go.”

“Thank you.”

Belle raised her eyes, smiling. She looked at Emma for the first time. Her eyes widened with surprise. Her lips parted. “Oh. You.”

Emma blushed. So Belle did remember. “Uh, yeah. Sorry. About that display. I was particularly clumsy that day.”

Belle smiled. “That’s okay. Most people just walk away. It was nice to actually have help for once.”

Emma was relieved. “Oh. Good.”

Belle laughed. “What’s your name?”

“Emma Swan.”

Belle’s eyebrows shot up. “Killian’s friend?”

Panic gripped her. Oh, God, what had Killian told her? Emma usually saved the ‘By the way, I have a kid’ speech for the fifth date. “I guess.”

Belle grinned. “Don’t worry. He said only good things.”

Emma stared at Belle’s grin, completely taken in by it. God, Belle had a really nice smile. It lit up her whole face. It made her eyes sparkle. It was distracting as hell.

Emma shook herself slightly and forced herself to focus. “So, you took Merlin’s paper too?”

Belle nodded. “Best class first year. He has a way of making everything seem interesting.” She tapped a few keys on the computer. She read off _Jane Eyre_ ’s price.

Emma swung her backpack around and fished out her wallet. It was buried beneath all her notes. She paid and Belle asked, “Would you like a bag?”

“No, I’m good.” Emma placed _Jane Eyre_ as delicately as she could into her backpack.

“Happy reading.”

Emma tried not to get distracted by her smile again. “Thanks.” She zipped up her bag. She looked over her shoulder to see where Killian was.

He was loitering at the nearby bargain bin.

Of course.

She stepped forwards him.

“Wait.”

Emma turned back Belle. “Hmm?”

Belle was scribbling on her notepad.

Emma felt a flush of embarrassment. Had Belle said something or had she just imagined it? She hesitated, uncertain.

Belle tore off the top piece of her pad and looked up at Emma. She smiled and held the piece across the counter to Emma.

Emma relaxed and took it. “What’s this?”

“My number.”

Emma looked up sharply from the paper in her hand. “Your number?” Her heart lodged itself her throat.

“Yeah. Call me.” Belle nodded her head in Killian’s direct. “He was supposed to introduce us months ago but…” She smiled fondly and shrugged one shoulder. “You know Killian.”

Emma was completely confused and happy, but mostly confused. “Okay.” She folded the piece of paper in her hands uncertainly. “Bye.”

Belle smiled brightly at her. “Bye.” Her smile beaconed Emma to get lost in it.

Emma turned away quickly.

Walking over to Killian, she grabbed his arm. “Come on,” she hissed and dragged him out of the bookstore.

She didn’t look back.

*    *    *

Emma preferred texting but Killian preferred phone calls, so of course the moment his afternoon lecture was finished he called her. She’d abandoned him soon after leaving the bookstore and had been expecting a phone call ever since.

She bookmarked her page in _Jane Eyre_ and picked up her phone. “Hey.”

“Don’t you ‘Hey’ me, Miss Swan.”

Emma knew what was coming. “I haven’t called her.”

“What?!”

Emma pulled the phone away from her ear. “Are you _trying_ to make me deaf?”

Killian ignored her. “How could you not call her? It’s been hours. At least send her a text!”

“I’ll text her tomorrow.”

“No, no, no. Not on my watch.”

Someone knocked on Emma’s door.

Emma snorted. “Is that you?”

“Of course, it is.” His voice echoed back at her through the door. “Now let me in.”

Emma considered the door. “No.”

Killian knocked again.

“This is a girls’ only dorm.”

“Then you better let me in before they realise I’m not a girl.”

Emma rolled her eyes and pushed herself off her bed. She crossed to the door and opened it.

Killian wasn’t alone.

Emma wasn’t surprised.

Emma hung up her phone and tucked into her jean’s pocket. “Hello, Mary Margaret.”

Mary Margaret offered an apologetic smile. “He said it was an emergency.”

“You’re so gullible.”

Killian pushed his way inside and crawled onto Emma’s bed.

Mary Margaret hesitated at the threshold.

Emma rolled her eyes. “I’m not mad. Come on.”

Mary Margaret hurried towards the desk at the end of her own bed.

As Mary Margaret emptied her bag and organised her things, Emma collapsed into her chair of her desk. “I’m not calling her,” she told Killian.

Killian picked up _Jane Eyre_ and absently began read the back cover. “Yes, you are.”

Emma snatched the book out of his hands. “No, I’m not.”

“Who aren’t you going to call?” Mary Margaret asked Emma, sitting down in her own desk chair.

Emma blushed, avoiding Mary Margaret’s eye.

Her and Mary Margaret were close but she still wasn’t sure where Mary Margaret stood with girls liking girls. Unlike Emma, who’d been raised in the system and later in Portland with Ingrid, Mary Margaret had been raised in a small cookie-cutter town in Maine. There was just no knowing how small town girls would react to these things.

“No one,” Emma lied, setting _Jane Eyre_ down on top of her laptop.

Killian was deeply amused by her answer. “Yeah, ‘no one’. Just some girl our little Swan has a crush on, that’s all.”

Emma winced and braced herself. She was going to kill Killian.

“You mean Belle, the bookstore girl?”

Emma looked up at Mary Margaret in surprise. Mary Margaret didn’t look shocked or disgusted. “You- You know?”

Mary Margaret frowned at her. “Emma, my best friend is Ruby Lucas. Of course, I know.”

Emma’s eyes bulged. “Your best friends with Ruby Lucas?”

Everyone knew Ruby Lucas. She was a campus legend already, even though she was only a freshman like them.

Mary Margaret shrugged like it was no big deal. “We went to high school together.”

Emma was stunned and relieved. She’d been dreading this moment ever since they’d become roommates.

Killian sighed impatiently from her bed. “Can we get back on topic please?”

Emma pointedly faced her desk and opened _Jane Eyre_. “I’m not calling her.”

“Yes, you are.”

“I’m not doing this again.”

“Yes, you are!”

“Repeating it doesn’t make it any more true.”

Killian groaned. “You’re impossible.” He fished his phone out of his pocket and started scrolling through Tumblr.

Emma raised an eyebrow at him, relaxing a little. Tumblr was usually a sure sign he was done with arguing. “Don’t you have an essay to write?”

“I’ll write it when I write it.”

Mary Margaret snorted from the other side of the room. “Before or after the due date?”

Killian glanced up from his phone and narrowed his eye at her. “Don’t make me throw my prosthetic at you again, Blanchard.”

Mary Margaret wasn’t fazed by the threat. She turned her back on him and started working on her own assignments.

Emma relaxed and turned her attention back to _Jane Eyre_.

Her phone started vibrating in her pocket.

Emma rolled her eyes. “Killian, you’re literally two feet away.”

“Not me.”

Emma didn’t believe him.

Her phone kept vibrating.

“I think someone’s calling you.” Killian sounded amused. “You should answer.”

Cold dread settled over Emma. She dug her phone out of her pocket and stared at the screen.

 _Unknown Caller_.

“You didn’t…”

Killian grinned. “I did.”

Emma answered quickly. “Hello?”

“Hey, Emma. It’s Belle.”

Emma threw one of her textbooks at Killian. She ignored his amused laughter. “Hey. Um, did Killian give you my number?”

“Yeah. Messaged me on Tumblr, actually. A bit weird.”

“Weird’s one word for it.” Emma glared at Killian. He grinned back.

“Do you have anything planned this weekend?” Belle asked.

Emma frowned, confused by this change in subject. “No.”

“I’m free Saturday. There’s this great café just off campus. We could meet up there and discuss _Jane Eyre_. How far are you through it?”

Emma blinked, taken aback. “I, uh, I’ve actually just started it.” Did Belle just ask her out?

“Well, you better get reading. It’s one of my favourites.”

Emma was very confused. “Okay.”

“It’s date then. Text me your dorm and room number. I’ll stop by at… Hmm, how about 10am, Saturday? That sound good?”

Emma was stunned. Her heart was fluttering like a hummingbird in her chest. “It’s a date.”

“Good.” Emma could hear the smile in Belle’s voice. “See you there. Bye!”

“Bye.”

Belle hung up.

Emma lowered her phone from her ear and stared at it.

“So?” Killian asked impatiently from her bed. “Did she ask you out or what?”

She looked up at him. “Oh my God, Killian. What did you message her?”

Unashamed, Killian held his phone out to her. His messages with Belle were displayed on the screen.

> **yohohorums:** you there?
> 
> **bookadventurer:** Yeah. Just got off work. Shouldn’t you be doing your essay?
> 
> **yohohorums:** there’s more important things
> 
> **yohohorums:** like putting you both out of your misery. ask her out already!
> 
> **bookadventurer:** Ask who out?
> 
> **yohohorums:** You Know Who

Beneath was Emma’s phone number and a series of impatient emojis.

“I hate you so much.”

Killian frowned. “Excuse me? Did I or did I not just get you a date? You should be thanking me.”

“You called me Voldemort!”

Killian frowned, turning his phone back towards him. “I did no- Oh, yeah. I kind of did. Sorry, love.” He grinned. “But I got you a date, didn’t I?”

Emma was still completely stunned about that part.

She had a date.

With Belle French.

Killian reached over and ruffled her hair. She shoved him away with a glare. He laughed. “She has a crush on you too, you know. I didn’t know, of course, until you two talked. I can’t believe you’re the girl who knocked over the _Pride and Prejudice_ display! She was talking about you for weeks!”

Emma blushed, stunned and thrilled and overwhelmed. “Shut up.”

Killian grinned. “Come on, a thank you wouldn’t kill you.”

She grabbed for her another of her textbooks.

He laughed, raising his hands in defeat. “Okay, okay, okay! Talk about ungrateful.”

Emma threw the textbook at him.


End file.
